If the Mets are really looking to sell, it is time to get rid of everyone that doesn’t have a contract beyond this season.  This means the Mets should part ways with Jay Bruce, Lucas Duda, Curtis Granderson, Addison Reed, and Rene Rivera.  Once Neil Walker is healthy enough to play, the Mets should trade him as well.  With the Mets having team options on both Jerry Blevins and Asdrubal Cabrera, they should also get moved in the right trade.

But it’s not just the players.  The Mets should also part ways with Terry Collins.

When Collins signed his two year contract in the wake of the 2015 World Series, Collins had indicated it could very well be his last.  Even if Collins relented from that position, with each game, it becomes clearer and clearer that Collins will no longer be in the dugout for the Mets in 2018.  If that is the case, the Mets should part ways with Collins sooner rather than later.

The perfect time would be as the Mets head into the All Star Break.  This could allow the Mets to re-calibrate the coaching staff.  Internally, the Mets have some managerial candidates.

First base coach Tom Goodwin was given the opportunity to manage in the Arizona Fall Leauge this past offseason.  While he was removed from the Mets coaching staff in the offseason, Tim Teufel has remained with the organization.  Both are certainly candidates for the managerial job should it ever open, and both should provide the Mets with as smooth a transition as possible.

There are also minor league managers Luis Rojas and Pedro Lopez.  With the Mets likely turning to young players like Gavin Cecchini, Brandon Nimmo, Amed Rosario, and Dominic Smith, it would be helpful to have a manager with whom they are familiar to ease their transition as everyday players in the majors.

It would also serve as an opportunity to see how any of the aforementioned would serve as a manager at the major league level.  If you like what you see with the replacement, you have your answer as to who should be the Mets manager in the future.  If that person doesn’t perform well, you at least know you need to move on from that manager and look in a different direction.

Point is if the Mets aren’t going anywhere, they should best utilize that time.  That means giving young players an opportunity to establish themselves as everyday players at the major league level.  That should also mean finding out who the manager should be in 2018.

It’s time for the Mets to thank Collins for his service as the Mets manager, and possibly find a role for him in the organization.  It’s time to close the chapter on his Mets managerial career, and it is time to usher in a new era of Mets baseball.